Are Ye Not Then Partial?

In his recent talk in general conference, Elder Christophe Giraud-Carrier bore this powerful testimony: “I testify that He whom we address as our Father in Heaven is indeed our Father, that He loves us, that He knows each of His children intimately, that He cares deeply about each one, and that we are truly all alike unto Him. I testify that the way we treat each other is a direct reflection of our understanding of and appreciation for the ultimate sacrifice and Atonement of His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ.” In other words, as we come to know the Savior better and appreciate the sacrifice He made for us, we will be led to show more love and kindness to those around us. We see this, for example, in the vision of the tree of life. The first thing that Lehi did after partaking of the fruit of the tree of life—tasting of the love of God for himself—was to turn to reach out to others: “And as I partook of the fruit thereof it filled my soul with exceedingly great joy; wherefore, I began to be desirous that my family should partake of it also; for I knew that it was desirable above all other fruit” (1 Nephi 8:12). As we understand our relationship with God and the Savior, we are led to see all those around as brothers and sisters and are desirous for them to also partake of the love of God.

               Elder Giraud-Carrier also spoke about his wife and her love for others in these words: “Whether you are the stake president or the ward greeter, whether you are the king of England or live in a shack, whether you speak her language or a different one, whether you keep all the commandments or struggle with some, she will serve you her very best meal on her very best plates. Economic status, skin color, cultural background, nationality, degree of righteousness, social standing, or any other identifier or label is of no consequence to her. She sees with her heart; she sees the child of God in everyone.” Recently I spoke to a colleague who explained to me how when his wealth was over a certain amount of money the financial company of which he is a client suddenly started treating him a lot better. That seems to be the world we live in—we favor those with wealth or prestige or fame and look down up other without those things. This reminded me of the words of James who chastised those have “respect of persons” in how they treat others. He wrote, “For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?” (James 2:2-4) This rebuke should cause us to question how we treat others and whether we favor those who are well-dressed or have money or college degrees or any other worldly distinction. Do we consciously or unconsciously treat those who believe like us or look like us or act like us better than we do others? That was the problem with the Jewish rulers in the time of the Savior, and He showed us all that we can love both rich and poor, sick and healthy, smart and uneducated, believing and unbelieving. All children of God are worthy of our respect and kindness, just as President Nelson taught: “Any… prejudice toward another because of nationality, race, sexual orientation, gender, educational degrees, culture, or other significant identifiers is offensive to our Maker!”